Native delicacies snack and sweets

Our town is in the province of Rizal which is beside the famous hilly town of Antipolo. The most popular delicacy here in Cainta is the bibingka which is made from glutinous rice that is baked in coconut milk. The flavor is the caramel on top which makes the bibingka so delicious. In Manila, that kind of bibingka is called Kalamay.

Sapin-sapin is a sticky cake that is colorful because it is made into layers of different colors. I cannot discern the ingredients but I guess it is made of glutinous rice plus the flavoring that is unknown to me. Aside from the color and sweet taste, it is eaten with the budbod which is grated coconut that is fried with sugar. It is crunchy when spread on top of the sapin-sapin to balance the sticky texture.

Coco jam is considered a vanishing delicacy but in our town it is still selling like the proverbial hotcake. People from the adjacent cities come to Cainta for a jar of coco jam. It can be used as spread for bread or it can be eaten with the suman. The suman is steamed glutinous rice that is usually popular during the summer season. We have many friends who are fans of the coco jam.

Bukayo is young coconut that is cooked with muscovado which is unrefined sugar. The young coconut is cooled to form like a cake. There are 2 kinds of bukayo, the brown one that uses the panutsa and the white one that uses the white sugar. Whatever type you buy it has the same taste that is good for dessert.

@Corzhens Your spreading love for sugar. ( Ha.Ha.Ha ) Everything you mentioned are sweet delicacies that sometimes I can't resist. I like eating them especially the bibingka. I like pairing it with coffee. It's yummy. I used to love the old traditional bukayo, where I can taste the coconut and less of sugar. Unlike these days, it's more of sugar and less coconut.( Ha.Ha.Ha ) Its too good to be true.

Kutsinta is another delicacy that is sold together with Puto or the traditional rice cake. There are puto-kutsinta vendors that roam the village in selling their wares. Rice cake is powdered glutinous rice that is steamed. Kutsinta has a flavoring that is not clear to me but it has a different taste then puto.

The Leche Flan is not that popular anymore but I think it is native to the country. Leche from the Spanish word milk and flan is the texture, it is made from milk and eggs so it can be considered a nutritious and healthy dessert. However, it is quite expensive but I guess the cost is worth with the delicious taste.

Bibingkang Galapong is the favorite of the church goers during the so called dawn masses in the week before Christmas. The Bibingka is baked rice cake that is round and placed over a banana leaf. It is eaten with grated coconut and sugar. The Bibingka is made from ground glutinous rice with milk salted egg.

The dirty ice cream is one of the favorites here. This may sound strange but it’s just a name for that local ice cream which is real ice cream. The most popular flavors aside form chocolate are cheese, mango and ube (violet yan). You can buy by the cone or have your glass filled with the ice cream that is sold on carts.

The cassava cake is an invention of the old folks in the farm areas. The main ingredient is grated cassava, coconut milk, and sugar. But for the flavoring, grated young coconut or macapuno is included in the mixture. Baked in a clay oven that also has heat on top, the cassava cake is so nice to eat.

Puto-maya is glutinous rice that is boiled in sweet coconut milk. It is placed on a piece of banana leaf for eating. Sometimes there are bits of jackfruit on top for the flavoring or some sweets like leche flan to add flavor. Puto maya is a traditional snack food in the olden times that is filling to the stomach.

The most common snack food which can be considered as a delicacy is the turon which is banana plantain or saging na saba that is sliced and wrapped in a lumpia wrapper then fried to be crisp brown. The rival is the banana cue which is fried in oil with sugar so the banana saba is coated with caramel. The banana cue is eaten on a stick.

The ube jam is called halayang ube which is a favorite of the old folks during the Christmas season. It is made from the yam tuber that is boiled in coconut milk and crushed. Together with milk, sugar and coconut milk again, it is cooked in a pan with plenty of stirring until the mixture becomes sticky. It is best for dessert.

Maybe you have already come across with Balut and Penoy. The Balut which is a boiled duck egg has an embryo inside that is always a challenge to foreigners. It is best eaten with beer and the dip is vinegar with lots of red pepper. The best Balut comes from the cities of Pateros and Taguig in Metro Manila.

Bukayo is one of the children’s favorites during the olden times because it is the cheap dessert and snack. The young coconut is grated in strips and cooked in raw brown sugar called panutsa. When cooked, the bukayo is molded in round form on a clean sheet of paper that later on will be cut and sold in a basket.

Suman is the ubiquitous snack food that is wrapped in banana leaves. It has many forms and color but the name is the same – suman. The best suman is the one with violet color and has caramel inside although it is more expensive than the ordinary suman.

Frog legs is one delicacy that is not popular nationwide but it is common in the provinces near Manila. The frogs are caught from the rice fields so it is certified clean and edible. When fried, it is like eating a small chicken drumstick. Fried frog legs are also good when eaten with beer. Live frogs can be bought in the flea markets in Metro Manila.

If you haven’t tasted Halo-halo yet then you are missing a lot. It is best during summer but even in cold weather people enjoy Halo-halo for a snack or dessert. It is a glass with a variety of sweetened stuff like banana, palm fruits, yam, leche flan, beans and some others. It is covered by crushed ice then sugar and milk are added. Sometimes a scoop of ice cream is added as a topping for more flavor.

Bagnet is crunchy pork belly that is cooked to be preserved. When you buy bagnet it has to be fried again and the best is to cut it in slices before frying to avail of the crunchiness of the skin. Bagnet is a delicacy from the northern Ilocos region. It is best eaten with rice and vegetable dish as chaser for the fatty pork.Here is the picture of the bagnet....

Lugaw is porridge that comes in several form. The most popular are the goto and arroz caldo. The Goto is porridge with beef intestines while the arroz caldo is the same porridge but with chicken. They are both nice to eat with tokwa’t baboy which is a side dish of fried tofu and boiled pork ears.